Greetings all,

Grew up stick welding and brazing (I know). About to start the passenger side long. I have a portable TIG and stick but I'm thinking of investing in a Lincoln MIG. Seems like a good investment and will produce a better repair in the long run.

Been waiting for this car for 45 years. Want to do it right. Would love your thoughts.

I've got a MIG and I like it, it's quite 'easy' to get a good weld with one.

Welcome!

You're thinking correctly. A decent MIG welder with gas shielding makes a world of difference. When I started on my car I had an old Century flux-core wire-feed welder. It worked but took LOTS of finesse. I upgraded to a Miller MIG welder and gas a few years back and it was amazing how much better/easier the work became.

I too grew up stick welding and brazing and found that I prefer Tig over Mig. So much easier to control heat with Tig.

I've also found that although TIG is the slower process, it works in my favor to prevent welding too fast, too much heat, and warping.

You will never regret buying a decent MIG welder, all sorts of uses and jobs will appear once you have it beyond the immediate bodywork that you’re thinking of.

Mig welding is so easy and produces a very good result. Great for large projects, tack welding, production, and learning..


I would think that for projects on a 914 the MIG is going to be better than a TIG 90% of the time and better than a stick 100% of the time.

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the help!

Best!

TIG is good if you're doing a lot of thin sheet metal and need fine control, but MIG is just so easy once you get down the motions and a feel for adjusting the current and wire speed. CO2 is cheap and works fine as a shielding gas on mild steel. Get anti-spatter spray for the nozzle. If you're welding a lot of dirty or somewhat rusty steel, you can use flux core wire. You have to crank up the wire speed and chip off the slag afterwards, but the flux lifts contaminants to the top of the puddle and leaves a nicer weld than if you used solid wire on dirty metal.

A 300 amp Miller or Lincoln is something you'll wish you bought years ago, and in no time you'll be welding stuff around the house, making your own custom tools or modifying existing tools to make tricky jobs easier, etc.

Tip: Never tell anyone you bought a welder. Friends and neighbors will constantly bring you things to weld that "will just take a minute", and eat up a shocking number of hours. Once they know you have it, there's no going back.

Definitely MIG. TIG is a superior process, but not as good on marginal metal.

Practice on the same gauge metal (cut pieces off a car are best), and practice more. Once you get competent the only problem you'll have is going to fast and warping stuff.

Right. I'll put some aside for practice. Anxious to start.

Thanks again everyone!